Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

46° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Spring Sports Guide: Baseball-‘Go-go’ gone, coach Paul Stevens still psyched for 2010

J.A. Happ stood in the batting cage at Trienens Hall, throwing live batting practice to Northwestern’s lineup two weeks ago. The former NU ace and current Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher was preparing for Spring Training while the Wildcats were getting ready for their first games of the season. For any hitter, making solid contact off Sporting News’ National League Rookie of the Year would be a challenge. But one player stood his ground in the box, routinely smoking the ball off Happ: Jake Goebbert.

“Happ is just amazing,” coach Paul Stevens said. “And Goebbert’s just sitting there going ‘pow! pow!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh God, I gotta replace that in the lineup?”

That’s the biggest question facing the team in 2010-how to fill the void left by the player who Stevens said made NU’s offense “go-go.” Goebbert smacked 33 extra-base hits and totaled 48 RBIs his sophomore year, when he was named a Second-Team All-Big Ten honoree.

The 6-foot, 205-pound first baseman/centerfielder was selected by Houston in the 13th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and opted to forgo his senior year by signing a contract with the Astros.

But Goebbert isn’t the only player Stevens will need to replace­-the Cats also lost sluggers Tony Vercelli and Tommy Finn to graduation. That trio, who hit 4-5-6 in Stevens’ lineup, combined for 54 of the 112 extra-base hits tallied by NU’s starters.

Even with a sizable chunk of last season’s offensive production gone, Stevens has high expectations for the upcoming season.

“I honestly believe that this year will be as exciting and unpredictable as 2006 was,” Stevens said.

That year, NU won a school-best 21 Big Ten games and earned an opening-round bye in the conference tournament for the first time ever. Two players from that squad, pitchers George Kontos and Dan Brauer, were drafted in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively. Since then, NU hasn’t seen a year as successful.

Other than the pitchers, what made that group click? Two senior starters-outfielder Anthony Wycklendt and catcher Pat McMahon-held together a young team with mostly sophomore starters.

Based on the makeup of the squad alone, Stevens has reason to compare the 2010 team to the 2006 crew. This year’s team is just as young, with only two senior starters: utility player Kenneth Avila and catcher Chad Noble.

While there are other players who offer more offensive production, Noble brings an intangible element to the diamond: Stevens called Noble the “backbone” of the team, thanks to his lead-by-example mentality on the field and keep-it-loose approach off it.

“When I have a question, I’ll go ask (Noble) because he pretty much knows everything,” freshman Arby Fields said. “He’s the one I really look up to.”

At the plate, Noble hit .297 and connected for 10 extra-base knocks in 2009. Behind the plate, Noble, who has started at catcher each of the last three seasons, is “as good of a catch-and-throw guy as there is in this country,” Stevens said. Noble threw out 38.2 percent of attempted basestealers last season.

In 2009 Avila led NU with a .298 batting average while splitting time between centerfield and designated hitter. Stevens expects Avila to fill a similar role this year, saying, “He’ll be a swing guy (splitting time between shortstop and the corner outfield positions), depending on who’s on the mound for us.”

Of NU’s four freshmen, Fields and Colby Everett are the two expected to contribute immediately. Fields will likely play centerfield, and Everett could play third or second base. Meanwhile, classmates Luke Farrell and Jack Havey won’t be forced “from the refrigerator to the frying pan right away,” Stevens said.

Two experienced juniors, corner infielder Chris Lashmet and starting pitcher Eric Jokisch, will also be key in imparting knowledge during the adjustment period.

Lashmet started 45 games at third base and ranked second on the team with 30 RBIs in 2009. But because Lashmet made 18 errors at the hot corner, he could shift to the right side of the infield and play first base, depending on who’s pitching. Regardless of where Lashmet plays in the field, his presence in the lineup will be crucial to the Cats’ success.

“I’m going to need to step up,” Lashmet said. “I need to have a big year offensively to fill in for (Vercelli) and (Goebbert). … Last year, I kind of had a role of protecting those guys, while this year (Paul) Snieder’s gonna be protecting me, which allows me to see better pitches.”

Without the heart of last year’s lineup, NU may adjust its style of play in 2010. The team will likely implement a small-ball strategy-utilizing tactics like bunting and hitting-and-running-to take advantage of its speed. Lashmet said the team’s offseason strength training focused more on speed, providing a “spark” to the offense. Fields and sophomore second baseman Trevor Stevens are expected to hit at the top of the Cats’ lineup and set the table for Lashmet and Snieder.

Even if NU doesn’t pack the same punch in its lineup this year, it has all the reason to be confident in its pitching staff, starting with Jokisch. During what Stevens described as a “fairytale” freshman campaign, the 6-foot-3, 180-pound left-handed pitcher won a team-leading eight games and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. That year, Jokisch was the first true freshman in Big Ten history to notch seven conference wins, routinely shutting down opposing lineups with ease. But as a household name last year, Jokisch struggled to find consistency, not winning his first Big Ten game until the last series of the season against Michigan.

“I had a lot more expected of me,” Jokisch said. “I didn’t really make much of an adjustment to try to improve myself to counter (opposing teams’) understanding of what I’m going to do. … I got a little tired, wasn’t really physically ready for the larger workload. It kind of took a toll on me.”

The Cats may not have to depend as much on Jokisch this year, as pitching coach Tim Stoddard can hand the ball to other hurlers with starting experience. Senior left-handed pitchers Joe Muraski and Dave Jensen have started a combined 52 games over the last three years. But sophomore Michael Jahns, who led the team with a 3.56 ERA last season, might find his way into a starting spot too. The hard-throwing right-hander would balance out the lefty-heavy rotation.

“(The pitching staff is) going to keep us in games,” Noble said. “We just need to put some runs up on the board.”

And winning games starts and ends with scoring more runs than the opponent, which may prove more difficult without Goebbert. The same question faced Stevens and Co. halfway through last season, when Goebbert lacerated his kidney after running into a fence while chasing a flyball at the Metrodome.

While NU missed Goebbert’s offensive production, it fared just as well with him out of the lineup. The Cats went 7-23 before Goebbert went down and 7-12-1 after.

But when a new season starts, last year’s statistics and records don’t tell the whole story-2010 is a fresh slate with new undercurrents.

“The last time I saw a tsunami that did massive damage, it wasn’t anything up on the surface, was it? It was something that was below that all of a sudden a couple of things collided and-wow!” said Stevens, rubbing his knuckles together to signify an explosion. “And that’s what’s happening around here.”

If the Cats’ first weekend tournament in Rock Hill, S.C.-where they lost four games by a combined 49 runs-is any indication, the stuff underneath the surface better start colliding soon.[email protected]

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Spring Sports Guide: Baseball-‘Go-go’ gone, coach Paul Stevens still psyched for 2010